DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-6 and 10-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Liu WO 2021027932 A1 (an attached copy of a translation of the document is used/cited in the rejection).
Regarding claim 1, Liu discloses a communication method, comprising: receiving, by a source master node (MN) (source MeNB, see fig. 6), an address of a core network device (source MME; step 608, source MME sends a handover command which carries a data forwarding address to the source MN, see page 12); sending, by the source MN to a source secondary node (SN) (source SgNB, see fig. 6), the address of the core network device (step 609, source MN sends the data forwarding address forwarded by the target MME via source MME, to the source SN, see fig. 6, page 12);
receiving, by the source SN, the address of the core network device from the source MN (step 609, source MN sends the data forwarding address forwarded by the target MME, via source MME, to the source SN, see fig. 6, page 12); and
establishing, by the source SN based on the address of the core network device, a channel for data forwarding between the source SN and the core network device, wherein the channel for data forwarding is used for transmission of data of a terminal device (see steps 609-610, page 12).
Regarding claim 2 as applied to claim 1, Liu further discloses wherein the forwarding the data of the terminal device includes forwarding data sent by the terminal device to the core network device, or data sent by the core network device to the terminal device (steps 609-610, after that, SN can send data according to the received address).
Regarding claim 3 as applied to claim 1, Liu further discloses wherein the sending, by the source MN to the source secondary node (SN), the address of the core network device includes sending the address of the core network device carried in a secondary base station release request message or a secondary base station release confirm message (step 609, see fig. 6, page 12).
Regarding claim 4 as applied to claim 1, Liu further discloses wherein the sending, by the source MN to the source secondary node (SN), the address of the core network device includes sending the address of the core network device in a handover command from the source MN to the source SN (see steps 608-609, page 12).
Regarding claim 5 as applied to claim 1, Liu further discloses wherein the sending, by the source MN to the source secondary node (SN), the address of the core network device includes sending the address of the core network device in a secondary base station release request message or a secondary base station release confirm message from the source MN to the source SN (step 609, see fig. 6, page 12).
Regarding claim 6 as applied to claim 1, Liu further discloses receiving, by the source SN, an address of a target MN from a source MN or a core network device (steps 605-609, see fig. 6, page 12); and establishing, by the source SN based on the address of the target MN, a channel for data forwarding between the source SN and the target MN (see steps 609-610, page 12).
7. (Original) The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the source MN, an address of a target SN from a target MN; and sending, by the source MN, the address of the target SN to the source SN.
8. (Currently Amended) The method according to claim 7, wherein the sending, by the source MN, the address of the target SN to the source SN includes sendingthe address of the target SN
9. (Currently Amended) The method according to claim 7, wherein the sending, by the source MN, the address of the target SN to the source SN includes sendingthe address of the target SN
Regarding claim 10, Liu discloses 10 a communication system (see fig. 6), comprising:
a source master node (MN) (source MeNB (MN), see fig. 6) and a source secondary node (SN) (source SgNB (SN), see fig. 6);
wherein the source MN is configured to: receive an address of a core network device (source MME; step 608, source MME sends a handover command which carries a data forwarding address to the source MN, see page 12), and send the address of the core network device (step 609, source MN sends the data forwarding address forwarded by the target MME via source MME, to the source SN, see fig. 6, page 12);
the source SN is configured to: receive the address of the core network device from the source MN (step 609, source MN sends the data forwarding address forwarded by the target MME, via source MME, to the source SN, see fig. 6, page 12), and establish, based on the address of the core network device, a channel for data forwarding between the source SN and the core network device, wherein the channel for data forwarding is used for transmission of data of a terminal device (see steps 609-610, page 12).
Regarding claim 11 as applied to claim 10, Liu further discloses wherein the data of the terminal device includes data sent by the terminal device to the core network device, or data sent by the core network device to the terminal device (steps 609-610, after that, SN can send data according to the received address).
Regarding claim 12 as applied to claim 10, Liu further discloses wherein the address of the core network device is carried in a secondary base station release request message or a secondary base station release confirm message (step 609, see fig. 6, page 12).
Regarding claim 13 as applied to claim 10, Liu further discloses wherein the address of the core network device sent by the source master MN is carried in a handover command from the source MN to the source SN (see steps 608-609, page 12).
Regarding claim 14 as applied to claim 10, Liu further discloses wherein the address of the core network device sent by the source MN is carried in a secondary base station release request message or a secondary base station release confirm message from the source MN to the source SN (step 609, see fig. 6, page 12).
Regarding claim 15 as applied to claim 10, Liu further discloses the source SN is further configured to: receive an address of a target MN from a source MN or a core network device (steps 605-609, see fig. 6, page 12); and establish, based on the address of the target MN, a channel for data forwarding between the source SN and the target MN (see steps 609-610, page 12).
16. (Original) The system according to claim 10, the source MN is further configured to: receive an address of a target SN from a target MN; and send the address of the target SN to the source SN.
17. (Original) The system according to claim 16, wherein the address of the target SN is carried in a handover response message.
18. (Original) The system according to claim 16, wherein the address of the target SN is carried in a secondary base station release request message or a secondary base station release confirm message.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-9 and 16-18 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yilmaz et al US 20200029389 discloses a method in a secondary node for providing, along with a master node, DC for a wireless device such that the wireless device is configured to utilize resources provided by both the master node and the secondary node in a wireless communication network is disclosed. The method comprises receiving, from the master node, a release request. The release request is a request to release a wireless device context of the wireless device or to release resources for the wireless device.
Purkayastha et al US 12,520,362 discloses detecting a radio link failure between a UE and a master node of a dual-connectivity configuration, determining a type of the radio link failure or a layer at which the radio link failure has occurred, selecting a recovery procedure for attempting to recover a link with the master node or a target node based on the type of the radio link failure or the layer at which the radio link failure has occurred, and performing the selected recovery procedure.
Da Silva et al US 20230199577 discloses a method performed by a first network node, configured to operate as a master network node for multi-connectivity operation of a wireless device, in accordance with particular embodiments. The method in some embodiments includes determining to configure the wireless device with a conditional reconfiguration.
Da Silva et al US 20230180065 discloses methods and apparatuses advantageously provide for early data forwarding in conditional handover of a User Equipment (UE) in multi-connectivity scenarios. Early data forwarding includes data from secondary nodes of the multi-connectivity.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OLUMIDE T AJIBADE AKONAI whose telephone number is (571)272-6496. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8AM-4PM.
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/OLUMIDE AJIBADE AKONAI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645